Google Assistant will now let you send or request money using Google Pay

Splitting the pizza order is now easier than ever

If you're a Google fan, you've probably used the company's Google Assistant app at least once or twice in the past. Indeed, the virtual helper has become one of the top voice assistants out there, and for good reason; Assistant can be pretty useful. In addition to being capable of answering basic questions, Google Assistant can now control your smart home, send messages and initiate phone calls completely hands-free.

However, Google isn't resting on their laurels with Assistant's current functionality. The search giant has decided to expand upon the app's feature set by integrating Google Pay functionality. For the unaware, Google Pay is Google's proprietary payment service that works similarly to Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

The service used to be two separate apps, dubbed Android Pay and Google Wallet. Due to brand confusion and the possibility of alienating Apple users who may think Pay is restricted to Android device owners, Google opted to combine the services under the Google Pay umbrella back in January.

At any rate, Google Pay's Assistant functionality is relatively simple to use. If both you and the friend you'd like to send money to or receive money from have Google Pay setup, you'll simply need to ask Assistant to do the heavy lifting for you.

For example, you could say "OK Google, request $10 from Bob for the lunch order" if you work in an office environment. In that scenario, Bob would then receive an "email, text message, or notification" informing him of your request. If you're the one sending money, Google claims the transaction should occur "instantaneously." If you don't have Google Pay set up, Google Assistant will prompt you to do so before allowing you to send or receive money.

You can download Google Pay and Google Assistant from your mobile device's respective app store right now to try the feature out for yourself.